The new year in 1998 started inconspicuously with Frederick, our beloved
Dachshund. It started with just a small patch of hair missing
from Frederick's shiny coat. Each week seemed to bring more hair loss.
Soon, we decided to bring Frederick in to see our veterinarian.
The vet seemed perplexed by the hair loss and suggested it might be
an infection. Antibiotics were prescribed and we were soon on
our way home. The antibiotics didn't help and it was
recommended that we take Frederick to see a dermatologist.
The dermatologist performed a wedge biopsy and the test results
suggested Systemic Lupus. We were faced with the unknown.
We had no idea what Lupus was, but soon knew more than we wanted to
about the immune mediated disease, which attacks the
immune system. We immediately started aggressive drug therapy
with the goal of driving the disease into remission. The
veterinarian was wonderful and he gave us a sense of hope.
Our hopes soared and our spirits were lifted when the subsequent
tests showed Frederick's blood chemistry had returned to normal.
The Lupus was gone!
Our lives and Frederick's life returned to normal until November of
1999 when Frederick unexpectedly
started to act differently. His playful spirit waned and he seemed to be favoring his
hind quarters and did not want to jump. As a preventative measure, we dropped by the
vet's office for an examination. The veterinarian suggested back problems and recommended
drug therapy and immediate crate rest. So we went home without Frederick
wondering what went wrong. We were on edge all day until we received a phone call
from the vet around 7:00 PM. The news was not good. Frederick was in a deteriorating
neurological state. In other words, Frederick had herniated his disc and he was paralyzed.
Frederick would need immediate surgery to have any chance of walking again. The decision
was easy for us but the impending thoughts, concerns, and fears were not. We went to bed
hoping for the best but fearing the worst. We could not sleep and we both tossed and turned
until the phone rang at 3:00 AM. The surgeon was talking; "The surgery was complete but
did not go well. The cat scan machine broke, he was bleeding unexpectedly, and it is highly
unlikely Frederick will ever walk again". Of course, we were stunned and highly disappointed to
hear those words. In short, we were devastated.
The devastation quickly turned to determination for us in our efforts to see Frederick through
this. I immediately turned to the internet to find any information on Invertebral Disc Disease
and available treatments. I found a support group for disabled
Dachshunds called Able Dogs.
This is a wonderful support group which gave us hope and reassurance that everything
would be ok
even if Frederick were paralyzed. The Able Dogs group advocated the use of vitamins such as
glucosamine, chondroitin, ester-c and msm. I searched the internet for a commercially tested and
approved product and discovered Free and Easy for Dogs. I quickly ordered some and started to
include it in Frederick's diet.
Frederick was completely paralyzed for over 2 weeks before we began to see very small improvements.
It wasn't until he tried to stand up one day that really caught our attention. We both looked at
each other with the: "Did you see what I saw?" look of disbelief. From then on,
he slowly and gradually improved his strength and eventually took a few steps. It was like
a baby walking for the first time. We could hardly contain our excitement and sometimes our
laughter. His wobbly gait reminded us of a drunken sailor at three in the morning. His walking
steadily improved to the point where he now can run. We are so pleased with his recovery from this
major surgery.
His confidence soared and his spirits lifted along with both of ours. Frederick's health was
great until the fall of 2000. He began to drink excessive amounts of water. We didn't become
concerned until he began to have trouble controlling his bladder. We began thinking the
worst. Maybe it was the beginning of kidney failure or the onset of Cushing's Disease. Much to
our surprise, all the tests came back normal. Consensus was building from our
team of veterinarians that
maybe this was psychological. The vets final test was for Addison's Disease and it came back positive.
We found out that Addison's Disease (hypoadrenocorticism) is caused by a lower than normal production
of cortisol by the adrenal glands. The good news is that Addison's Disease is easily controlled with
a 25 day injection of Percotin, which we administer ourselves.
In 2005, he experienced a Lupus flare-up after battling a severe kidney and urinary tract
infection. The Lupus attacked his skin and left some deep wounds but they have healed. He has recovered and just
received a
clean bill of health from the vets. In 2006, he nearly died after
trying to eat a big piece of tri tip beef. We were camping
and had a family gathering and someone dropped a piece on the
ground. Luckily I was there and saw Frederick try to eat the
beef and 1 minute later keel over from lack of oxygen. I
quickly grabbed him and performed the Heimlich maneuver
successfully.
Frederick turned 14 on March 27th, 2007. During the
1st quarter he had 2 fatty cysts removed and 1 tooth pulled. Around May, he started experiencing
neurological symptoms and was diagnosed with encephalitis. In late June, he lost his vision but still
navigated the house expertly. He did very well until mid December when his kidneys failed him. On December 17th,
2007, Frederick peacefully passed away. He was a Trooper until the end. He lived far longer than could be
reasonably expected.
We will cherish his memories forever.
Frederick Maxwell Jolivet's spirit, determination, and love are inspiration to us and many others. For that reason, he is the
"Dachshund Extraordinaire".
View the video "Tribute to Frederick"
here
